CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
H. Previous Study
The following are the previous studies related to the variables of the present study comprising critical thinking ability and writing ability.
First, a study which entitles The Relationship between Critical Thinking and Language Proficiency of Malaysian Undergraduates was conducted by Rosyati Abdul Rashid and Rosna Awang Hasyim. The study was conducted to find out the critical thinking ability of Malaysian undergraduates and its relationship with theirlanguage proficiency. It was carried out in Universiti Utara Malaysia of which total of the participants were 280 undergraduates taken from the university. The instruments used in the study comprised a demographic questionnaire and a test. The demographic questionnaire was intended to gain and to collect the undergraduates’ language proficiency data—encompassing speaking, reading, writing, and grammar—which derived from Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Malaysian University English language Test (MUET); whereas the test (the translated Bahasa Malaysia version of the Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level X) was used to find out the undergraduates’ critical thinking. The data analysis of the study used Pearson product moment correlation. Based on the findings of the study, it
was found that there was a significant correlation between the undergraduates’ critical thinking ability and their language proficiency37.
The next study of which title is The Effect of Critical Thinking on Enhancing Writing among Iranian EFL Learners was conducted by Nader Assadi, Hanief Davatgar, and Parinaz Jafari. It was carried out to find out whether critical thinking has effects on learners’ writing. In addition, it was conducted in private English language institute in Tabriz, Iran. There were 60 students, whose proficiency level was intermediate, as the participants of the study. The method used in the study was experimental study. The participants of the study were equally divided randomly into two groups, i.e. the first group was the control group and another one was the experiment group. In the experimental group, the participants got some treatments associated with the successful critical thinking strategies over three weeks instructions, whereas the control group did not receive any treatment like in the experimental group. The study concluded that critical thinking instruction had effects on learners’ writing; in this case, it showed that the participants from the experimental group had the higher scores in post test than the control group38.
In addition, The Relationship between the Critical Thinking Skills and the Academic Language Proficiency of Prospective Teachers was the
37Rosyati Abdul Rashid and Rosna Awang Hasyim, The Relationship between Critical Thinking and Language Proficiency of Malaysian Undergraduates, Edu-COM 2008 International Conference, 2008, pp. 373—384.
38Nader Assadi, Hanieh Davatgar, and Parinaz Jafari, The Effect of Critical Thinking on Enhancing Writing among Iranian EFL Learners, International Journal of Scientific and
Engineering Research, 4, 2013
next related previous study conducted by M M Grosser and Mirna Nel. It was carried out at a South African university of which participants was 89 first year students studying in Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree. The study used a correlation design. The instruments used were tests, one was the test to measure the participants’ critical thinking, i.e. Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and another one was to find out their academic language proficiency, i.e. Test of Academic Literacy Levels (TALL). The data was analyzed using Pearson product moment correlation which mentioned that there was a significant correlation between academic language proficiency and critical thinking as a general competency39.
Furthermore, a study under the title The Impact of Critical Thinking Tasks on Paragraph Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Learners was conducted by Samaneh Khodabakhsh, Shahrokh, and Morteza Khodabandehlou. It was conducted in Kish language school in Tehran, Iran. The total participants of the study were 60 students who studied English in the school. The instruments used were tests comprising Oxford Placement Test (OPT), the Cornell Critical Thinking test form X, and a test of written English. They were divided into two groups, i.e. control and experimental groups, determined randomly based on the result of the tests covering English proficiency, paragraph writing ability, and critical thinking. The experimental group had a treatment involving some critical thinking tasks while they were learning paragraph writing tasks;
39M M Grosser and Mirna Nel, The Relationship between the Critical Thinking Skills and the Academic Language Proficiency of Prospective Teachers, South African Journal of Education, 33, 2013, pp. 1—17.
meanwhile, the participants from the control group only learned paragraph writing based on a handout taken from a certain book. After the participants received a post test, then the data of the study were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods (mean and standard deviation), inferential statistics (t-test), and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings of the study mentioned that the participants who received techniques of critical thinking while they were learning paragraph writing over the instructions attained a greater improvement in their writing abilities; it was shown from the experimental group who outperformed the control group in terms of writing ability40
In comparison with the related previous studies discussed and reviewed above, this study has the position and similarity or difference from those related previous studies above portrayed in Figure 2.2 as follows:
Figure 2.2 above shows the similarity between the previous studies and this study. The darker the color, the more similar the previous study with this study. In this case, this study is more specific and detail than other investigations conducted by other researchers. First, although Grosser and Nel and Rashid and Hasyim carried out the studies with similar design to this study (the correlational design), the inspection in their studies are
40Samaneh Khodabakhsh, Shahrokh Jahandar, and Morteza Khodabandehlou, The Impact of Critical Thinking Tasks on Paragraph Writing Ability of Iranian EFL Leaners, Indian Journal of Fundamental and Applied Life Sciences, 3, 2013, pp. 639—648.
Khodabakhsh, Jahandar, and Khodabandehl ou (2013)
This Study (Critical Thinking Ability and Writing
Ability) Assadi,
Davatgar, and Jafari (2013) Grosser
and Nel (2013 Rashid and
Hasyim (2008)
broader than this study. They investigated critical thinking in relation to the language proficiency as a general competency in a unity. On the other hand, this study is conducted to find out critical thinking ability in relation to one of the parts of the language proficiency, i.e. writing skill. Next, in comparison with the study conducted by Assadi, Davatgar, and Jafari and another one which is conducted by Khodabakhsh, Jahandar, and Khodabandehlou, although those studies investigated the same variables, i.e. critical thinking and writing, they applied different design from this study. Their studies’ designs are categorized as an experimental design since those studies are intended to find out the impact or influence of critical thinking toward the writing skill. By any considerations of the reviews of the related previous studies above, it can be considered that this study is not a replica of the previous studies, instead it is an expansion as well as a more specific research focusing on critical thinking ability of this study.
CHAPTER III